2. Tom Barrett, whom Walker defeated in the regular election in October 2010, has — at long last — said he's running.

Barrett, 58,the fourth Democrat to declare his candidacy in the recall election. They will face off in a May 8 primary... Former Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk was the first Democratic candidate to jump into the race, and she has already locked up most of the union support. Wisconsin for Falk - a union front group - has already spent more than $1.6 million on air time to run TV commercials backing her campaign....

This should be interesting, with the 2 Democrats attacking each other and using up their funds for the next 4+ weeks, then pivoting to try to defeat Walker one month later. Walker obviously has been fighting to keep his job and will continue to fight while Barrett and Falk (and Vinehout and La Follette) concentrate on the primary.

UPDATE AT 5:05: Friends of Scott Walker comes out immediately with an anti-Tom Barrett ad:

22 comments:

Eagerly waiting to hear how confident Althouse's flock are re: Walker keeping his job. Knowing successful governor recalls are quite rare ie ND 1921 and CA 2003 when the Terminator was the flavor of the day.

Why does the opposing party get such a benefit of ballot access, getting to have their candidate automatically on the "recall" ballot?

That's not a recall election, that's an early general election.

The only issue in a recall election is -- and this is rather fundamental -- whether to recall the current office holder, i.e. should the officer holder remain in office? Any election, if needed, to fill the vacancy should come in a separate election, especially if one party is allowed a special spot on the ballot.

I still see Walker as the favorite, but Barrett could make it close. Much closer than Falk, who will draw committed leftists, union dead-enders, urban minorities, and anti-Walker types, but she has very little appeal outside those groups. Barrett actually is a decent person. Ineffectual and dull, but decent.

Walker swinging into blaming Barrett already. That a turn from blaming unions, protesters, union bosses, Obama, ObamaCare, Greece, and the debt ceiling hike. He likes to spread the blame around. Who was Milwaukee County Exec? Not him!

As a complete outsider, my opinion is that using the mayor of the state's big city as a foil is a winner. The rest of the state is probably sick to death of Milwaukee politics and will recoil from voting for anyone connected to them.

Now forgive me while I go try to negotiate the toughest encryption scheme in blogdom.

"A generic Democrat holds a small lead over Walker -- 48 percent to 46 percent -- which falls within the poll's margin of error. Independents are split, with 45 percent favoring Walker and 46 percent going for the Democrat.

Voters are similarly split evenly when it comes to Walker's job approval numbers: Forty-eight percent approve of the job he is doing while 48 percent disapprove."

>

Not to worry Althouse conservatives as Bush43 won re-election w/48% Gallup job approval ... but if you could spare a few bucks, Walker will be forever in your debt! ;-P

I can tell from the comments that folks have not visited Milwaukee recently; the city I left over 17 years ago has been revitalized in many ways, and those many folks who have had second thoughts about electing Walker will not vote for Barrett--it will be a close election.

It's the only good thing to come out of these recalls. If you haven't visited the site lately, check it out. It's now incredibly fast and easy to use.

People all over the state are using it as sort of a background check in local campaigns. You want to make sure that local school board candidate who talks the conservative talk isn't really a union toady in disguise? Log on and check em out.

This information is going to provide years of entertainment. My favorite story so far is the Sussex school board candidate who deliberately misspelled her name on the petition and then lied to a constituent about signing. I wonder how many more of these clowns will be discovered in the days to come. I only hope they leave this petition information online indefinitely. They're providing a very valuable service.

1 in a million...er nope 900,000 require a recall to restore so-called rights that were somehow able to be legislatively taken away. Sorry folks, this recall is all about greed - money and benefits of public sector workers. For Joe/Josie Taxpayer who works at Wal-Mart, the local gas station, Sears, or other private company: here are a few "rights" that he or she will never see themselves, but gladly give to the employees of their state, by voting to recall Walker ( and I know, because I am a state employee - probably a 1% of the 99% mob against Walker)1. Before Walker's changes, the good people of the state of Wisconsin were handing me about $3000/year in pension contributions - about $33,000 after 11 years of work. Multiply that by the number of state employees - some getting more, some getting less. Now, we have to pay half of that - Wisconsin taxpayers still on the hook $1500/year for me - and the money I've banked so far can never be taken away (unless lost on Wall Street) - hurray!2. I earn one sick day every month. When I retire, I can bank those sick days to buy health insurance which will last a few years - multiply again by every state employee. Umm...I bet I am a 1%-er, not a 99%-er in this particular cushy benefit3. A few years ago, an immediate family member of mine had a serious illness. I am very thankful for the taxpayers of the state of Wisconsin for helping this not to bankrupt our family which cost around $100,000 for a 2-month hospital stay. How much did we pay??? $0 Now, with Walker's changes, we have to contribute more - oh, 5.2% of our paycheck and a $500/year out-of-pocket thingy still isn't bad, no? Once again, I am feeling like a 1%-er.4. Ever since I started working, I have had 22 days of vacation, 10 holidays and 4 1/2 personal days. When I worked in the private sector, I started out with 10 days, 8 holidays, and no personal days, and it took 20 years to work up to 20 days! That guy down at the Kwik-e-Mart is looking at me like a 1%-er again.Oh wait - some of these rights have not been taken away even with Walker's changes other than the changes I've mentioned. You know, Walker could have come in, laid quite a few state employees like me off and raised property taxes to balance the $3 billion+ budget hole, but there wouldn't have been all this brouhaha because the unions still would have had all of their precious rights that were legislatively passed into law in 1959. But Walker opted for a different way because he realized that money doesn't grow on trees and he can't tax the Koch brothers to death because they don't live in Wisconsin.So, Joe/Josie Taxpayer - if you're fine with letting me have back all my cushy 1%-like "rights" and benefits (which ones were taken away again? I don't remember), go ahead vote for the other guy/gal. Regardless, even under the evil-incarnate Scott Walker, my family and I live a good life that many of the people of the world will never see.As Bobby on the show Supernatural is wont to say, "Idjits" to all those who want to recall Walker, especially you folks in the private sector!

"roesch/voltaire said...I can tell from the comments that folks have not visited Milwaukee recently; the city I left over 17 years ago has been revitalized in many ways, and those many folks who have had second thoughts about electing Walker will not vote for Barrett--it will be a close election."

Really, I live here. What is all this revitalization you are talking about?

Here is how it will shake out: The Democrats will fight a bitter battle to see who gets to run against Walker. Then they will put all their money and effort behind the winning candidate--who will still loose to Walker. The Democrats will be so dispirited and broke that Romney will unexpectedly win in Wisconsin.